Manual of Style
Welcome to the Editing Manual! This page will be used as a reference for editors on how to format the articles here on in a more standard, organized manner. You are welcome to discuss any descrepancies or loopholes in the comments. General *New articles should be named according to the subject's official name with capitalized letters for each individual word. ::E.g.: an article on the epic dragons should be named "Epic Dragons". *If the official name of a subject has been changed for any reason, please use the most current name. However, redirects can be made using the previous names. *The first line in the intro should be about the subject of the article, and the subject has to be written in bold. This is only for the first sentence about the subject. **'E.g.:' The Breeding Cave is required to breed dragons. The Breeding Cave can be purchased from the market starting at level 7. **For introductory sentences, circular definitions are not allowed, because they do not explain anything to the reader. Please avoid making opening sentences along the lines of "Flower Box is a box of flowers". *The definite article (the) and indefinite articles (a/an) should be avoided in article titles except if they are used in an official title/name. ::E.g.: "The Fire Statue" should be named "Fire Statue". *Avoid using the second person pronoun (you) in articles except for strategies and quotes. *Avoid using plural pronouns for singular nouns. ::E.g.: "The dragon" cannot be referred to as "they". Use the general "it". *Articles created should be limited to the DragonVale sphere. Real world references such as references to names, books, movies, events, and others should only be posted on the appropriate page found here. ::E.g.: Sakura Dragon should have a link included to Real World References in the notes section of its article page. *The language of the wiki is American English, considering the fact that the actual gameplay is in American English. In the American English style, it is proper grammar that a possessive term should only lack an "s" after it if it is plural. It also means that you should use a comma before the final term when making a list of three or more subjects. ::E.g.: Use Cactus's, never Cactus'. Use Moss's, never Moss'. ::E.g.: Plant, Earth, and Fire, not Air, Cold and Metal. *The article subject should be italicized, except for the article title (there's no coding for that anyway). *'Do not' use abbreviations. Leap Year Dragon should be written in full, never use LYD or Leap Year. *The first letters of each word for all in-game subjects (dragons, decorations, and buildings) e.g. F'ire '''D'ragon, 'F'ountain of 'Y'outh, 'B'ed of 'R'oses, must be capitalized. **Exception: Use of the preposition '''of does not require capitalization unless it is specifically done so in-game. **Exception: When referring to a category of dragons e.g. fire dragons, capitalization is not required. *Component, minor, or insignificant items can be grouped by an identifying characteristic rather than each item having its own page as long as the details of each component are provided. ::E.g.: Dragon Snaps, Blushrooms, Sarjin Peppers, and all other Treats. *Speculation should not be added into any article whatsoever unless there is enough information to substantiate it. If the article concerns a dragon, decoration, or other feature that is about to be released, there shall be no article pages created prior to the actual release. *Categories on should be in-wiki and in-game. Wikilinking *Wikilinking is limited to the first occurrence of the word or phrase in the entire article, other instances may be bolded to signify importance. **Exception: An article can be linked to more than once within a single article if the additional links link to individual sections of the article, rather than the article alone. E.g.: Plant dragons and Earth dragons would be acceptable. *Interwiki links are optional, but they are encouraged. Note that once an interwiki link has been placed, it should not be deleted unless at least one of the following circumstances are fulfilled: **The interwiki link is a broken link, which means that it directs to an empty, unwritten page. **The current link is being replaced by another link, either after the renaming of a page, or to prevent redirection. Deleted/previously deleted articles *Deleted articles should never be revived on the Wiki until and unless there is enough information to substantiate them. *If an article is too stubby and should be merged with another, the template should be used. The remaining articles (which are remnants of the merger) should be marked with the template. *If an article was created or revived in bad faith and has little or nothing to do with the , use the template. *All discussions about articles for deletion should take place on Candidates for Deletion page and not in the comments section of the marked articles. *No distasteful information is to be put in any part of any article. For Dragons, Decorations, and Buildings *Each dragon, decoration, and building gets an article, as long as it is under the sphere of DragonVale. *Use only official names for the name. The name must also be complete. *All articles should use the appropriate template. ::E.g.: The decoration "Vernal Fountain" should use the . *Priority should go towards the in-game appearance rather than commenting on any real world references. *Likewise, subject names are referred to the same way they are in DragonVale; for example, Sakura Dragon should never be referred to as the Cherry Blossom Dragon. *Each dragon should have an Infobox designed based on their primary or base element, for hybrids this is the first element shown on their info card. Rare dragons, Gemstone dragons, and certain limited dragons will have their own , , and templates. *Using a gallery, insert as much official and relevant artwork and image as possible, added with caption for explanation, but try not to go overboard. The standard practice is a single image for each of the following; baby, juvenile, adult (info window), egg in nest, hatching selection window, and the breath of the dragon. **Exception: A single image for each Facebook, Twitter or in-game notification from Backflip Studios is also acceptable. *Place relevant navigational templates at the bottom of the article. *Articles must be categorized appropriately, do not add nonsensical categories. ::E.g.: Do not add Category:Templates to a dragon article page. General Sections *'Breeding' - known breeding methods, generalized if possible. *'Earning Rates' - basic milestones from level 1 to 20 without boost effects. *'Automated Names' - generally filled in automatically. *'Gallery' - limit to a minimum. *'Notes' - real world references etc. *'Comments' - end of article page, comments follow. Gender All dragons are genderless, classified as "it", or "its" when referring to possession. *'YES' : The Rainbow Dragon is a rare dragon. It requires at least four different elements to breed. Its habitat can only hold a single dragon. *'NO' : The Rainbow Dragon is a rare dragon. He requires at least four different elements to breed. His habitat can only hold a single dragon. Any dragon with a design that suggests an obvious gender, such as the Moon Dragon(F) or Sun Dragon(M) are NOT an exception to this rule. *'NO' : The Sun Dragon is also a rare dragon. He requires the elements cold and lightning to be bred. *'NO' : The Moon Dragon is also a rare dragon. She requires the elements cold and lightning to be bred. *'YES': The Sun/Moon Dragon is also a rare dragon. It requires the elements cold and lightning to be bred. Using Media :For a general policy on media files, seek :Media Images *Infobox images for articles should be renders or as a secondary, in-game captures. If neither are available, use until an acceptable image is available. *New images should only be uploaded over old images if you are replacing the image with a better quality version. **Where an image is of poor quality, use the template to alert the uploader and other users. *Images without a transparent background should be placed inside a thumbnail and a caption must be added, if it doesn't fall in the Gallery section (see for the know-how). The same goes for images that have been cleaned and cropped. *Userbox images should be cropped or resized to no larger than 50 pixels. *The maximum number of images in a Gallery section is 10. *If there are no images whatsoever in an article, you can alert other users by using the template . *Images must be categorized according to this Wiki's categorization policy. Videos *Videos are only allowed in: **Recent News **Game Updates ** ***A limit of two (2) videos posted at any given time for user profiles. *Videos should be placed at the bottom of the article in their own section. *There shall be a maximum of four videos all other allowed articles, without exception. **If the videos are taken from YouTube, the frame color must be similar to that of the Infobox color, and no related videos are allowed. *Uploading videos is highly discouraged. To place a video on a page, type the code after ''watch?v='. Music *Music samples for music-related articles are encouraged. **Only a '''30-second snippet is allowed for soundtracks. If it has to be more than 30 seconds, it must highlight the main theme of the piece, and no more than that. Do not place the entire file as this will be a violation of copyright. **Do not link to file-sharing sites, or sites offering illegal music downloads. Category:No Testing Category: No Testing